42 



BIBB NOTES ANB NEWS. 



ridiculous quibbling of the law, fifteen months had 

 elapsed without any such Order being obtained, 

 and for all he knew that youth would be snaring 

 birds next Sunday. Previous speakers thought 

 there was no need for further legislation; he urged 

 that there was such need, and that it should take 

 the form of a short Act of two clauses, one to 

 render bird-catching illegal, and the second to make 

 it an offence to capture and keep wild birds taken 

 when full-grown. It was' well known that out of 

 a hundred birds caught seventy-five died. He 

 happened to pas's a birdshop every morning where 

 he saw these birds beating themselves to death 

 against their cage-bars ; and neither the Society 

 for'the Protection of Birds nor the Society for the 

 Prevention of Cruelty to. Animals could interfere 

 because no technical offence was committed. The 

 trade was wasteful, immoral, and painful to those 

 who saw anything of it ; it did no good except to 

 provide a pittance for some of the lowest ruffians 

 in London. 



Mrs. NELSON heartily agreed in regarding a 

 Sunday Protection Bill as most important, and 

 told how she and her husband had often foregone 

 morning' service at church and tramped over their 

 district, driving bird-catchers from field to field. 

 She herself had been able to make one of these 

 men (though it was not a pleasant task to confront 

 them) release sixty birds at One time. She lived 

 as near London as Maiden, but last winter they 

 had fourteen species of birds in their garden, and 

 they wanted to keep them. Birds were the property 

 of the nation, not of rascally loafers who came 

 down from London. ■ 



The Chairman said that the Council would 

 understand from the pulse of that meeting that they 

 should take steps to amend the law in the direction 

 of consolidation, with some additional amendments 

 if these could be introduced without exciting oppo- 

 sition. As regarded a circular letter to County 

 Councils, the Society was in thehabit of addressing 

 letters to the Councils respecting their Orders, but 

 it must be remembered that local authorities might 

 resent such a communication when they had taken 

 all the steps they thought proper. He quite saw 

 the point of Sir Digby Pigott's contention that eggs 

 might be made property, but thought that such an 

 amendment should be made when the Larceny 

 Acts were being dealt with. He reminded the 

 meeting that by a Bill which. was at his instance 

 introduced six years ago into the House of Lords 

 it was proposed to protect all birds, leaving County 

 Councils to draw up their own lists of exceptions ; 

 this system would ensure the protection of rare 



birds, and put a stop to the common case of the 

 man with a gun shooting a bird because he did not 

 know what it was. He was personally of opinion 

 that this was the way legislation should proceed. 



HOW TO APPROACH THE WEARERS OF BIRD 

 MlLLINERV. 



Colonel COULSON, who said he had the privilege 

 of addressing thousands of young ladies at various 

 schools in England, Ireland and Scotland, ex- 

 plained that in doing so he went on one tack. He 

 told them that if they wished to look ugly, dis- 

 agreeable, and even repulsive, let them wear dead 

 birds ; but if they wished to look womanly, sweet, 

 and becomingly dressed they must wear lace, 

 artificial flowers, and such-like ornaments. He 

 believed that he had not appealed in vain and also 

 that he had for the most part had the mistresses 

 and teachers of the schools on his side. 



Mrs. Lemon read some telling extracts from 

 letters received from Miss M. E. Ruston, Hon. 

 Sec. for Lincoln, Mrs. Brodie, and Mr. J. Buck- 

 land. The last-named wrote : — 



" It is not only a question of humanity, but one 

 of world-wide interest. The extermination of 

 tropical birds for the decoration of the hats of 

 the women of Europe a>d America is more rapid 

 than is dreamed of, and the need for prompt action 

 is most pressing." 



A message from Mrs. Phillips advocated fre- 

 quent letters of protest to the local newspapers, 

 even if only to reiterate the same thing. Personal 

 experience, said the speaker, was what they 

 wanted at a conference of workers, and twenty 

 years' experience had led her to the conclusion 

 that the direct method was the only effective one. 

 Formerly she worked on the plan of sending leaflets 

 and impersonal letters, but it was quite ineffectual. 

 Life was too short and the matter too urgent for 

 beating about the bush, and therefore, however 

 disagreeable it might be, the frontal attack must 

 be made on friends and neighbours either by a 

 personal letter or by word of mouth. With the 

 letter a telling leaflet should be enclosed, and the 

 writer must be absolutely sure of her facts. Men, 

 if only they would, could make a personal protest 

 far better than women, for the majority of women 

 were flattered if a man noticed their dress, even if 

 only to run it down. 



Lady Muriel Watkins asked what was to be 

 done with women who went on persisting that their 

 plumes were " artificial," and that they could not 

 be so cheap if they were real ? 



Mr. Lemon suggested reference to the leaflets 

 of the Society which thoroughly showed up this 



